"youll do better with a Dyna. better suspension....."
Not unless they changed recently. I put up with a Dyna Sport for a year, it would almost pitch me off on minor dips in the blacktop.
I couldn't put up with the poor front brakes either (dual disc). Even after putting on stainless lines and floating rotors it took a full hand to slow it down.
Jim

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Dottore asked for advice, and an opinion between the two bikes. If you only came on here to bash Harleys, stay the fuch out of the thread! :mad:

I'm on my 3rd Harley. Second Sportster now. Had an 883 before this and a Sturgis. Gotta agree with some of the above posters. The Glide is a much better bike for long higway trips. Not just in the comfort aspect but mainly the gearing. My Sporty is screaming doing 70 while the bigger bikes are alot more mellow. But like Mr Higgins said, it is way more fun to ride. Especially when using it around town and commuting.

If you want the best of both worlds, just get both of them!;):D

only thing about the top bike i dont like are the standard foot controls. i prefer forward controls on harleys. looks better. feels better. and i dont like the headlight. i prefer the larger headlight off the sportster custom.

foot controls can be moved easily though

any opinion about the new triumph bonneville? its on par with the sportster as far as performance & looks good. just another alternative to consider

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Not sure about the new Bonny. It doesn't turn my crank somehow. The Queens Jubilee Edition Bonny was my daily transport for two years back in university. I loved that bike and have many fond memories of it. The new one seems rather colourless by comparison.



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Wow Vinny, touched a nerve did I? Didn't mean to offend anyone, just trying to have a little fun. I'm offering an open apology to everyone that was offended by my attachment. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...s/pftroest.gif

No offense taken here. I spent too many years joking about Harleys myself. ;)

BTW I used to lust after that 1982 Katana of yours. Those bikes were the most outrageous things on two wheels when they first came out.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint (I have not ridden a late model Harley) I like the black and orange paint scheme. Reminds me of the HD racing bikes. I really dislike the look of the riser bars on the second bike. If the motor and peg layout is 'better' on the second bike than maybe a flat bar and some bags would make it look better.

HD is not my cup of tea but if you get back on the bike ride safe!

What can I say, I'm like an overprotective mother when it comes to my bike.:D

I never liked the Buckhorn bars on HDs. They are comfortable but wierd as far as control. Always preferred the low drag bars.

I love my Electra Glide.

Depending on yoru size, the Sporster may just be a little too small.

The Sporster also have a 5 speed, and I belive the new Dyna's got the 6 speed.

The nice thing about Harley's is that they have no problem letting you test ride em. The local BMW and Duc dealer do that here as well, but no one else will let you ride.

Good luck in whatever you choose, and welcome back to two wheels...

Bill

So can anyone comment on the difference between the "Evolution" engine in the Nightster and the "Twin-Cam" unit in the Street Bob.

I know HD doesn't publish HP figures, but is the Twin Cam a radical improvement over the older unit?

I have looked at this many times before, went to dealerships.....but when I sit down and look at how much a Harley is going to cost, I can't pull the trigger. For way less money you can get a far more capable bike from myriad other brands. I like Harleys, but not enough to write the check for one. A used 1200 Sportster is going to be $7k. For that kind of $ you could get a fantastic used Duc. Any late model big twin will be $12k used, and new, they are expensive to say the least. The math just doesn't work for me.

Have you ridden them? Someone here said that HD is happy to let folks test ride their bikes. Our local HD dealer also rents bikes. I'll bet you could swing a deal to rent each bike for a day and apply the rental fee's toward your final purchase. That's what I would do...

Edit - I also recall the resident HD riders here all claim that newer HD is worlds more reliable than the older stuff. Again no personal experience here so sorry for that.

Find a leftover one of these

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Unless you are 5'8" or less, I would not recommend the sportster ... ;)

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as an ex-crotch rocket pilot, i just dont like harleys. all form, no function. IMHO only. well, i guess attitude and basic transportation is a function. i dont ride a sport bike anymore either. just not comfy enough anymore. i dont carve canyons anymore, so my next ride will need to be a long distance hauler, which at this point is the main attraction to bikes for me.

i have the bug up my butt to ride coast to coast...

If you build it, they will come.

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as a crotch rocket lover and owner and ex-harley owner, ive gotta say that the harley is a hell of a lot more functional than my crotch rocket. my ninja is good for a nice zippy 30 minute ride, thats it. im ready for a knap after that.

my sportster was alot more sporty that my ninja, just slower, and slower to stop. highly flickable, comfortable, very simple and easy to ride. i just dont think they are worth the money. i think my 883 100th anniv with V&H pipes and rejet by dealer cost me with tax, close to or a little more than $12K. thats insanity considering i can now get a brand new ducati 848 for about that

the only harley i would consider off the dealer lot now, is the night train

too bad they dont make the springer softail anymore. back in the 90's they had a beautiful mandarin orange model that was beautiful. i think for the most part, their current lineup is godawful butt ugly...

It's a slippery slope this. In two days I've gone from being done with riding, to looking at Harleys, and then today I looked at one of these on the basis "its just a basic bike; nothing fancy and fast; same price as the HD Nightster."

"I'll just do some relaxed cruising on it" I keep telling myself.

I've liked all my BMW's (3) in the past, but hated the styling in recent years. Even this one is butt—ugly, but it's perhaps the least ugly of the lot (except for the S of course—and I don't want to go there.)

Oh well. The chase is part of the fun.

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the evo in the sporty is 1200cc and has been in use since 84ish. the twin cam is a minimum 1560 probably and i think it came out around 98ish? may be fuel injected as well. If you go down the harley trail, i'd go with the dyna, if you plan on doing any real traveling on it. the sportys tank will only get about 85 miles on a tank.